


Liquorice Truffles

by thepinkpanther



Series: The Collector AUs [1]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Aro believes in Fate, Aro has Magic, Bella does not die in this, Drug Use, F/M, Old Akkadian, References to Depression, References to Suicide, Slight AU of 'The Collector', set in new moon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:00:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28464954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepinkpanther/pseuds/thepinkpanther
Summary: Bella and Alice's mission to Volterra to save Edward goes slightly off course.No one can predict their Fate, if Master Aro is involved.
Relationships: Aro & Renata (Twilight), Aro/Bella Swan, Past Aro/Sulpicia (Twilight), Past Edward Cullen/Bella Swan - Relationship
Series: The Collector AUs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2084982
Comments: 8
Kudos: 82





	Liquorice Truffles

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
> 
> **Happy New Year, Dear Readers!!**
> 
> This is a little something angsty while the next chapter of The Collector is... being... written. Still. Being. Written. ...Yes.
> 
> This story takes place in an AU closely related to The Collector's universe, so you will understand this much better if you have read The Collector. (If not, don't let this note scare you. It is not necessary to have read the other story before this one.)
> 
> **Warning: Not for Alice and Edward's devotees.**
> 
> And… Apologies to those of you who hate on liquorice.
> 
> Lastly, English is not my native language, so… sorry for any mistakes.

***

_Edward and Alice Cullen._

Aro was smiling jovially.

_Carlisle’s firstborn and the little seer._

His smile did not falter.

_Standing before him… angry, scared and above all else… **unrepentant**._

_As if breaking the law by revealing their secret to a human or attempting to break the law by exposing them to hundreds of Volterrans and visitors celebrating Saint Marcus Day was **nothing**._

Aro’s perfectly jovial expression changed into perfect curiosity as Alice Cullen moved closer to him, raising her hand-

_-in a clear show of wanting him to see her mind. Her intentions. Her visions._

_Dear Fate._

_Why him?_

_He had already seen plenty of those things in Edward Cullen’s mind._

Renata and Lily moved from their positions around him in a clear attempt to block the approaching petite golden eyed vampire.

Aro waved them away and stepped forwards the little seer.

_He did not need his Guard for **this**._

Aro rearranged his expression into that of genuine anticipation _(for those who did not know him)_ _,_ and took Alice’s hand in his own, closed his eyes and bent his head over their joined hands.

_Dear Fate._

_Why him?_

_Usually his gift allowed him to see and make a copy of a person’s mind and archive it instantaneously. Of course, it was not always so simple. The older the person and the more information there was to obtain, the longer it took. Or, if the person had a brilliant mind it was a true pleasure to stay in their mind for a little while longer. Or if the person was gifted. It was always interesting to see and experience their gift or gifts in action himself._

_Alice was young, but there were millions of visions to live through. See through.  
_

_Dear Fate._

_What had she done..._

_Such disrespect for **You** , Fate._

Aro could hear Edward Cullen’s teeth click together.

_The boy probably saw everything Aro was seeing. Not that it meant much. He would not be able to discern anything from Alice’s mind as the speed of the memory transfer and the quantity of the information was far beyond such an untrained mind as Edward Cullen’s._

_The boy was currently dealing with a killer headache, trying to keep up._

_Aro saw the visions of the human girl, Bella, becoming a vampire._

_Aro had to admit she would be stunning, if she were ever turned into one of their kind._

_But._

_The boy had no intention of changing her._

_**That** he saw perfectly well. Edward would rather let her die than change her and have her **lose her soul**. Fool._

Aro started laughing, his hand still holding that of the seer and looked up into her golden eyes with an excited expression.

_If Alice’s visions could be believed, the blasphemous little things, the girl, Bella, was just as likely, if not more so, to die in an accident in the next four months._

_She did not have more time. Four months and she would either be murdered or die an accidental death, or become a vampire, somehow. The curse had wrapped around her so viciously…_

_And the Cullens did not intend to change her, despite their promises to the contrary. They had abandoned her, once. Why on Earth would they turn her now? What had they been thinking… Well. He saw that neither Edward, nor Alice knew of the existence of the curse. Perhaps if they had…_

_No matter._

_He heard how the seer thought his laughter slightly deranged. Aro will have to put more effort into attempting to lose the insane tinge from it. He had made slight progress with this since he had read Phillippa’s thoughts and saw her realising he was 'not all there' the second his friend had heard him laugh for the first time._

“That was fascinating!” Aro enthusiastically exclaimed.

_Oh, it sure was. The things he had seen in her mind… Her visions. He wanted to bleach his mind of those alternate possibilities. It almost made him shudder._

“I'm glad you enjoyed it.” Alice said wryly.

_Ha! If only that were the case…_

“To see the things you've seen - especially the ones that haven't happened yet!”

_**And the ones that should have happened countless times over, but didn’t. Because of** **Alice Cullen.** _

_Aro felt the strain of keeping the raging inferno that was his emotions locked away inside one of the archived copies of his own self becoming too much._

“But that will,” Alice said levelly. Surely.

_She was so sure of this. So very sure of this. Interesting._

“Yes, yes, it's quite determined. Certainly there's no problem.” Aro assured and __wondered_ -_

(as Aro's restraint finally snapped and his emotions broke free from his artificial double self),

_-how she could be so **wrong**._

Aro had not let go of Alice’s hand, which was clasped in his right one when his left hand connected with the side of her head, taking it clean off her shoulders.

It hit a pillar, which was reinforced with a decorative stainless steel net (as were all the other seven pillars and walls for exactly such occasions when he made heads fly), and shattered in tiny pieces on impact.

Edward leapt at him, teeth bared in a furious snarl.

Aro sent Alice’s body flying to the left for Felix to catch and froze Edward mid leap, half a metre before Edward’s grabby hands could connect with his person.

Aro wasted no time in ripping off his limbs. One by one.

First the right arm, then the left arm.

Left leg, right leg.

Edward screeched.

Aro reached up and in a well-practiced move ripped out Edward Cullen’s insolent tongue.

Now the boy was gurgling something unintelligible.

Aro looked into Carlisle’s firstborn’s agonised face and felt no regret rise in him when he put both his hands on either side of Edward’s head and _pulled_.

The cracking sound was alike music to his ears.

A well-deserved ending to an undeserving recipient of the gift of eternal life.

He let go of the boy’s head and cancelled the anti-gravity bubble in which he had entrapped Edward. The boy's limbless body caught on fire before it could connect with the marble floor, as did the other body parts of Alice and Edward littering the floor.

He had made quite the mess this time, hadn’t he?

Not full ten seconds had gone by since his hand had connected with the little seer’s face.

And wasn’t it _hilarious_ how the seer had not seen even the smallest possibility of her imminent Death by his hands?

He could only presume Fate had kept the mystery of her End to Himself.

“ _Such unparalleled arrogance_.” Aro spat shaking his head. No signs of the earlier contentment to be seen in his demeanour.

“I have not seen _stupidity_ the scale of _this_ for _decades_!” Aro seethed. His fingers were curling into claws.

“ _Who did they think they were_ , coming into our home, _demanding favours_ … **_hateful_** and _lying_ , and trying to _deceive_ and **_trick_ _ME_** _!_ ” Aro bellowed in rage.

The high glass windows and the round skylight twenty meters above him were trembling, as if suffering through an earthquake. But the ground was still.

He reined in his anger. With extreme difficulty. It would not do to break Didyme’s artwork. He would never forgive himself.

The smell of burning bodies did not cheer him up, not as it usually did.

Aro looked to the two still burning, most gifted Cullen children and with one irate motion of his hand, their smouldering pieces were swept in the large fireplace, made especially for such-

“ _Pieces of filth_.”

The room was dead silent.

“Brother.” Caius voice sounded a metre behind him. _Cautious._ They were all so cautious around him since he had relapsed and slipped deeper into depression (and all that it entailed for him) after His Darling’s death, for the last two years now.

Aro turned around and lifted an eyebrow, “Yes, Caius?”

“Why.”

Ah. Caius was looking for an explanation. They all did.

This usually happened when Aro ~~executed someone without warning~~ acted seemingly on impulse.

“They deserved it.” Aro said in a clipped tone.

“Of _that_ I have no doubt, Brother.” Caius shook his head and sighed. Looked to the smoking remains and then back to Aro.

“Are you going to inform Carlisle of the… development?” Caius asked in a resigned but inquiring voice.

“No. Let him call _us_. For a change. Fate knows Carlisle has not bothered to answer _or_ _return any of mine_ for decades. If I did not know better, I would think he has lost my number as well as any of yours _and_ changed his own.” Aro scoffed. “We will see if that indeed is what has happened. Won’t we.”

Aro looked to the burning bodies in the fireplace and then back to his brother.

“ _Did you know_ , brother mine,” Aro said in a sugar coated voice, “that Carlisle has formed a treaty, _some **seventy** years_ _ago_ , with _shifter_ **_wolves_** , which inhabit the Olympic Peninsula where the Cullens frequently tend to reside?”

“What!” Caius gaped at him dumbfounded. A rare sight.

“Why yes, dear Caius. He has failed to inform us of the existence and location of a potential deadly threat to our kind! Failed _spectacularly_.”

“He might have had his reasons.” Marcus said as he got up from his throne.

“I care not about his reasons. There are _reasons_ for such intelligence to be disclosed.” Aro retorted.

“Hmmm. There certainly are. You are not mistaken in this, Aro.” Marcus agreed.

“I cannot believe _Carly_ would do such a thing. Not after- not after… not after. _Not after, not after, after after **after** -_”

“ _Padrone._ ”

Aro locked eyes with darling Renata. She always made him snap out of it, whenever he stuck into one of his whirlpool rants.

“Have Heidi bring the food to Renaissance Room.” After all, not all of the Guard enjoyed the smell of burning vampire. (Darling Renata being one of them.)

Aro was not _heartless_.

“Aro. The human.” Marcus helpfully reminded him.

“Ah, yes.”

The human stood in the exact place she had stood before the boy had abandoned her in his fit of vengeful rage; she was silent, with wide chocolate eyes, frozen in pure shock.

He could taste it in the air. Her shock.

“She will remain here.” Aro decided without even contemplating the issue.

“Brother.” Caius said, cautiously.

“Back off, Cai.” Aro warned before sighing as he looked to the human who was dripping water all over the floor. Tremors from shock and cold rocking her frame every two seconds. Her lips were turning pale blue. “She belongs to me now.”

Caius closed his eyes for a long moment, let out a heavy sigh but dropped the matter.

Aro heard Heidi lead the tourists past the room they all were gathered in still (save Phillippa who had slipped out to warn Heidi in advance).

“You are all dismissed.” Aro informed his Guard.

The Guard left the room, one by one. Athenodora. Then Marcus with one last lingering glance to him and the human. Caius followed after them but not before clasping Aro’s shoulder in a reassuring squeeze.

Only Renata remained in the room with Aro and the human.

“Darling, you will miss dinner.” Aro said to his friend as he approached the human and slipped his hand into one of her lax ones, which were just hanging there, by her sides.

Still nothing. Even being paralysed by shock did not shake her mind’s shields.

Astonishing.

But.

Her hand was much too cold for a human.

“I’ll survive.” Renata retorted. “Aren’t you going as well? It has been a full month. You need to eat, Master.”

“I will wait for the next time.”

“Master, you _promised_ you will eat every month.”

“Darling, I am fine. I can wait.”

“ _No_ , you _promised!_ Your eyes have yet to recover completely. You _need_ _to eat **today**!_” her eyes made a minute shift to his human. Which made him step in front of Bella, shielding her from Renata’s view.

“Do not even think about it, Renata!”

“She smells very good. Just as you like, Master.” Renata tried to reason.

“I will not eat Isabella, _carissima_.”

“Then come to Renaissance Room!” Renata exclaimed in despair.

“The human is cold. I need to get her in dry clothes before she catches a cold.”

“ _Goddamnit_ , Aro!” Renata shouted. “Don’t you _dare_ do this again!”

“Do what.” A raspy voice asked behind him. Aro turned to see the human slowly blinking her eyes and coming to her bearings.

“Starve himself blind for a year!” Renata yelled, which caused Isabella to flinch and her tremors to intensify. Her teeth started chattering.

“ _Darling_.”

“Master. _You need to eat. Please._ ” Renata begged.

Aro sighed, desperate. He hated when Renata begged.

“Very well. Bring someone here for me, if there is anyone left.”

Renata was out the door in a moment.

Aro was left alone with the human. He squeezed her hand, which was still clasped in his own.

“We will get you out of these wet clothes in a moment, dear.” The girl just kept staring at his chest with unmoving eyes. The door opened revealing Renata and a struggling young man.

“Let me go!” The man was a heavy tobacco user.

“This was the only remotely acceptable one left, Master.” Renata said apologetically.

“Release me, you fucking bitch!”

Aro let go of the girl’s hand and swiftly walked to the struggling man, yanked him by the hair and without ceremony bit into his neck. He did not even try to be gentle. Not with scum like this. Liam Endric’s pathetic life flashed before Aro’s eyes as the man filled the high vaulted chamber with his screams. Aro took four full mouthfuls of the subpar quality blood-

“ _All of it._ ” Renata demanded.

“No.”

“ _Master_ , all of-”

“Darling-”

“ _Master, please!_ ” Renata begged. He hated when darling Renata begged. He pressed his teeth into the human’s bleeding neck again and pulled two more mouthfuls of blood from the now weakly struggling human and threw him to the ground.

“Darling, I cannot, anymore. _I can’t_.” Aro hoped she would understand. _Let him be_.

Renata looked disappointed, but accepted his refusal. She leaned down, yanked the bleeding human back up, bit into the wound Aro had left on his neck and drained the remaining four and a half litres of blood still left inside the man.

Then she opened the lid of one of the shafts leading to the disposal chamber far, far below them in the basement and dropped the corpse in. Four full seconds passed by before a thud echoed off the walls far, far below.

Aro turned around to the stuttering heartbeat of his human and found her sunken down to the floor with her back to the wall, hands wrapped around her legs, her face hidden behind her knees, only tearful, terrified chocolate eyes shining above them.

The cold marble floor could not be good for her.

Aro crouched down to her huddled, shaking form and lightly touched her head. She flinched away, the back of her head hitting the stone and steel wall.

Aro slowly retracted his hand an inch. She was afraid of him. Her fear and distress and shock and sheer _terror_ palpable in the air. He found he did not like this.

“ _Bambina_ …”

Aro, slowly, telegraphing his actions, lifted her trembling figure bridal style from the ground and pressed her against him.

Renata had long since slid the lid back in place over the shaft and was waiting for him by the door she was holding open for them.

Aro stepped into the hallway and headed up to his rooms, with Renata following him.

“What are you going to do with her?” Renata asked.

“Get her warm. Let her sleep.”

“And after?”

“I have not yet decided, dearest. It depends on a few factors, I suppose.” The human was still crying, but whereas it had been completely silent before, it was becoming louder, more forceful.

“Darling. The little seer stole a yellow Porsche and left it on Via di Castello, in front of _Ristorante Enoteca Del Duca_. The police will not find it for quite some time yet, but… Could you retrieve their belongings from the car? And wipe down any fingerprints of Isabella that might be there, please.”

“Consider it done, Master.” Darling Renata assured.

“ _Grazie, carissima_.”

“Before you go. Please purchase some clothes for Isabella, food, the essentials. I have no idea what she brought with her and what she didn’t. Take Phillippa with you, she might have a better idea of what is needed for a human, dearest.” Aro said with a faint smirk. Renata was hopeless when it came to human food. _Hopeless_.

The human in his arms had started bawling hysterically by now.

“Of course, _Padrone_.” Renata nodded.

Aro shifted the human a bit, to free one of his hands so that he could lightly pet her hair, but it only made her cry harder.

“She is going to pass out soon it she continues like this, Aro.” Renata quietly observed.

“I know, _carissima_. Nothing I can do about it.”

They had reached Renata’s rooms.

“Master.” And Renata disappeared through her doors.

Aro took few metres more until he reached the doors to his own rooms. The doors opened on their own accord; he did not even have to pay more than a fleeting thought. He stepped inside and he heard them close behind him.

Aro carried the hysterically crying human to his bedroom and set her on his bed.

“Child.”

She was still sobbing, loudly, tears streaming down her face. Aro became aware that her breathing had become erratic and she had trouble drawing in much needed oxygen.

“Child…” Aro helplessly whispered. Crying humans had never been his specialty.

He debated with himself for a second whether it would be better to leave her in the wet clothes until she lost consciousness or get her out of them immediately.

Aro regrettably decided that if she did not become sick already (which he believed would happen anyway), allowing her to stay in them will definitely accomplish the job.

He took her in his arms again and carried her to the bathroom.

He made all the taps snap open to rapidly fill the perfect half-sphere marble tub with warm water.

“Forgive me.” Aro said to the sobbing child as he put her down on her feet beside the bathtub.

He began removing her wet items of clothing.

She tried fighting him. She screamed, she cried, she tried to get away.

But all her efforts were utterly futile.

(He could have made them disappear, the wet clothes, but it would have been so much more disturbing for her, this way she at least knew what was happening to her.)

A little while later he had undressed her completely.

White alabaster skin, long, delicate limbs. She was beautiful.

But it was apparent that she did not have an adult’s body, yet. _Not completely_. Only a few more years would have seen to that.

And she was thin. So very thin.

He could tell, by the Cullen children memories, that she must have lost at least fifteen pounds. In the last eight months.

Aro had a suspicion she might be slightly anaemic. He would have to be careful if he ever drank from her, if he did not want to kill her. If so, losing half a pint too many would have potentially harmful effects on her well-being.

She was still struggling, her heart trying to beat out of her chest. And was that not another interesting thing about her? _It was in the wrong place._

Aro took the hysterical human in his arms, carried her to the tub and carefully submerged her into the warmish water. It must feel scalding to her frozen body. Not that he could tell with certainty.

He took a bottle of orange flavoured bubble bath and poured a bit from it in the still flowing water.

Soon he turned off the taps. The foam covered the water’s surface and only Isabella’s head was visible now.

“Calm yourself, child.” She was still crying (how much water could the human body dispel?) but the hysterics were dying down, gradually. He could tell the girl had no intention of moving, at least for the time being. The warm water and the bubbles offered at least some kind of protection from his eyes. He suspected she would not be able to get out of the smooth and slippery marble sphere even if she tried.

It was unfortunate he had to use force to rid her of her clothing.

It was unfortunate the human probably feared him now more than ever before.

For a different reason altogether.

He took a sea sponge from one of the drawers and kneeled down on the floor by the tub.

“Here. Take it.” He offered the sponge to the human, but she just looked at him with fear swimming in her wide chocolate eyes.

He sighed and proceeded to submerge it in the warm water (making the human let out an even louder sob) squeezed it and then lifted it from the bath and emptied the warm water on her hair. He repeated the motion a few times until all her hair was dripping wet.

Aro brushed her neck with his hand and felt her temperature slowly rising. He opened a few hot water taps and took a bottle of orange scented shampoo ~~(he was a masochist, wasn’t he? It seemed he could not stop torturing himself, even after half a millennium)~~. He squeezed out an appropriate amount (her hair was almost as long as his own) and started gently applying it to her hair.

“Are you getting warmer, child?” No response.

Well. Her teeth were not chattering anymore.

“We had to get you out of the damp clothes, child.”

Aro finished foaming her hair.

“Close your eyes, Isabella.”

“Are they closed?” Seconds passed until she slowly, barely perceptibly nodded her head.

“Good.” He willed some water to rise from the tub in the form of a volley ball, levitated it over her head and let it pour down her foamy hair. And another one. And another one, until all the shampoo was effectively rinsed out.

Aro got to his feet and went to his walk in closet in search for something for the child to wear. He settled for a long green silk shirt and ones of his tightest trousers-

He heard a soft splash from the bathroom.

Aro flew back only to find that the girl had slipped under water.

He pulled her up by her arms and shook her. “ _Isabella!_ ”

The human's eyes opened and she coughed out a small amount of water that had managed to get into her airways.

Aro summoned a towel from one of the bathroom closets and wrapped the coughing girl in it.

“Don’t you know you cannot sleep in a tub filled with water, child?”

He carried her back to his bedroom and set her on the bed.

“Put them on.” Aro said, indicating to the items of clothing he had placed there moments ago.

“Y-you w-w-won’t lo-look… ag-again?” The human stammered, tears were making a comeback it seemed.

“No, dear. Put them on, I will go find another towel for your hair.”

Aro stepped outside the room, closing the connecting door behind him and slowly went to retrieve two more towels. After good fifteen seconds he heard hesitant shuffling. After a minute the shuffling had ceased completely.

He deemed it safe to return.

Indeed, the human had put the clothes on. They were too large on her, of course, but not so much that she disappeared in them.

Aro approached his terrified child. He sat down beside her on the edge of the bed and started drying her long hair with a dry towel.

“ _Isabella_. Listen to me carefully.”

He could tell she had heard him loud and clear. Good.

“I am going to finish drying your hair.” Aro informed her.

“Answer or nod if you understand.”

The human nodded.

“Then I will wrap a dry one around your hair.” He paused. After a beat she hastily nodded.

“Then I am going to bring you a glass of water, which you will finish entirely.” She nodded again after a brief pause.

“Then you are going to get under the covers.” She froze. And stopped breathing altogether.

“ _Answer_ or _nod_ , if you understand.” Oh, she understood very well. The poor thing started frantically shaking her head up and down.

“Good.” Aro set the wet towel aside.

“And then you are going to sleep.” He said as he wrapped her damp hair in a dry towel and saw her eyes widen as her heartbeat started fluttering even more erratically.

“ _And you will sleep_.” Aro said as he unfolded the covers and got up from the bed. “Am I understood?”

She nodded once more, a single tear spilling from her fearful eyes. He collected the wet towels, went to the living room and retrieved a large wine glass, went to the bathroom, got rid of the towels and half-filled the glass with water.

Aro returned to the bedroom to find the human sitting on the sheets where he had uncovered the duvet, slight tremors still running through her body. It was not a good indication.

He approached the girl and handed her the glass of water.

“Drink.” Aro watched as she cautiously took the glass and after a long pause, just as he started to wonder if he will have to pour it down her throat himself, she took a small sip, then another one, until she was gulping down the water rapidly. The poor thing had been parched but had not even known it. Aro took the empty glass from her hand and sent it back to the living room.

He saw how her eyes widened in wonder as she witnessed the glass swimming through air and disappearing through the door. It made him preen, almost. He had mastered object levitation only two hundred years ago. It had not yet gotten old for him.

He motioned for her to get between the sheets and lie down.

She complied without any delay this time.

He sat on the bed beside her and saw her wet eyes snap up to him.

“Darling Renata will have retrieved your things when you awaken.”

“If you need the restroom, you will find it beyond the bathroom.”

“I hope I am mistaken, but I fear you might have caught a cold.” The human squeezed her eyes tightly shut, rolled over a bit and turned her back to him.

Aro exhaled resignedly.

“You will stay with us from now on, Isabella. There will be no going back home for you. No _running_ either. Consider this your new home, child.” One heart-crushing sob was his only answer.

“I will be in the lounge, if you need anything.”

“Try to get some rest, child.”

And without another word he got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

***

Bella heard the door clicking shut, not _his_ footsteps. _He_ moved entirely without sound.

But her eyes were too heavy to look if _he_ had left. She just knew that _he_ had.

She was completely exhausted.

Physically. Emotionally.

Sleep came and swept her away in moments.

***

Bella woke up with a start.

She had had the worst dream. _Ever_.

A nightmare that Edward and Alice were dead and-

She was currently lying in a soft, not her own bed and in soft, not her own clothes, in a vast, not her own bedroom.

No dream. No nightmare.

Just plain old reality.

She peeked over the duvet and saw that she was still alone. No one was in the room with her.

There were no windows in the spacious, round bedroom, but there was one large pink stained glass skylight that covered almost the entirety of the ceiling. It was right above the enormous bed she was now lying in.

How had everything come to this? How had everything gone so _wrong_?

One minute everything had been _almost_ fine in the throne room. As fine as it could ever be. Nothing indicated that something bad was going to happen. The next Ed- _Edward_ and Alice were getting ripped apart by _him._ And then they were burning.

And now they were dead.

Irrevocably, irrefutably dead.

Why?

What had _he_ seen that made _him_ kill Alice and Edward?

It had been so brutal, so swift and… and… _efficient_. Alice and Edward had never stood a chance against _him_ despite their gifts.

Edward had once said the Cullens’ gifts were mere parlour tricks compared to those of the Volturi. Now she saw for herself that he had been dead ( _Ha! Dead. So dead. He was so dead now_ ) right.

What did _he_ mean by ‘ _unparalleled arrogance’_?

Well, she guessed Alice and Edward were always a bit arrogant, as were all the vampires she knew (and had known). Perhaps, except for Carlisle and Esme. And Jasper.

And about lying and tricking _him_? Had they… had they really lied? About what? Didn’t they know _he_ would see every thought of theirs?

And what about the wolves? What did the tribe and Carlisle had to do with everything? It almost seemed as if _he_ had killed them (partially) also because Carlisle had not told _him_ about the wolves. Somehow, Carlisle had played a role in Edward and Alice being dead. However indirect it might have been. It was chilling to think about it. That Carlisle keeping the wolves a secret had cost him his son’s and Alice’s lives.

But it was true.

Poor, poor Jasper. He will be devastated.

And Esme. She loved Edward very much. More than any other from the family did, save Alice.

Her head started to ache. Literally.

No, it had been hurting for a while now, Bella had just finally noticed it.

And she was steadily warming up.

_Burning up._

The warm bath _he_ had made for her had done wonders in getting most of the chills to disappear. (She did not want to even remember how _he_ had undressed her without slightest effort despite her fighting _him_ with everything she got. It had made her so terrified (no one had ever undressed her besides her parents and it had been more than a decade ago), and embarrassed (the way _his_ eyes had swept over her naked body, seeing everything), and _desperate_ , because above all she understood that _he_ could do anything to her, _anything_ that _he_ desired and she could do **nothing** to stop _him_.)

Bella could not believe she had fallen asleep in the tub. If _he_ hadn’t pulled her out…

She could feel bruises forming on her body. The ones from colliding with Edward after running through the fountain and his subsequent dragging her through the passageways hurting the most. The ones she had inflicted on herself while fighting _him_ were mild in comparison.

The pain was becoming more and more pronounced as the shock and adrenaline had finally left her body. How long had she been asleep? It must have been several hours.

She did not know what to do. _He_ had said she was going to be living here now. How could she even get away? Through the whole Castle, unnoticed? And then what? Then she only had to get out of the city, find an airport, buy a plane ticket with money she did not have and fly home. And hope they will not manage to find her, or her home. _Hilarious_.

She did not want to admit it but it was impossible. Not even Ethan fucking Hunt would be able to do it, _pardon her French_.

Her left wrist must be sprained. It hurt worse than when that fucker Kyle had broken it. Or had she actually _broken_ it, somehow? She slowly and gingerly lifted her left arm from under the incredibly soft sheets and saw an enormous handprint had started to form (in the shape of Edward’s palm) and it was already swelling.

Please, God, no. No. No.

Her heart rate was picking up speed and as it beat faster, the injury began pulsing in tandem with her heart.

She would not be able to sleep anymore. Not like this.

And she needed to pee.

Bella rolled on her back and almost screamed.

 _Fucking hell_ , this fucking _hurt_!

Seemed like her ribs were seriously bruised as well.

She laboriously shifted up in a sitting position on the bed and with her good hand started to unbutton the green silk shirt _he_ had given to her. The shirt smelled of French vanilla, cloves and Japanese honeysuckle. Just like the sheets, although it was not so pronounced in the bed. She could only assume that it was _his_ scent as _he_ had smelled of the same exact things now that she thought back to the trip to _his_ rooms and in the… bathroom. _He_ must not use it very often. Why would _he_ , anyway? Vampires did not sleep.

She looked down on her bare front and what she saw almost made her tear up again. There had been nothing on her skin, earlier in the bathroom, however many hours ago it must have been.

Now there were blue and violet and even some very dark bruises on her chest, breasts, _ribs_. Her stomach. _Jesus_.

She buttoned up the large shirt and slowly put her feet on the icy marble floor. Why was it suddenly so cold in here?

She got up and almost crashed to the floor from the pain.

This was getting _soooo not funny_. Her right ankle was badly swollen too. Fuck.

She somehow limped to the bathroom door and then to the restroom.

Why did _he_ even have such a room here? Vampires did not use toilets, as far as she knew. For appearances sake? _Unlikely._

Besides the toilet, there was a rainfall shower, two black glass sinks and a mirror wall behind them. And many cabinets with long drawers.

A short while later she had finished peeing and went to the sink. There were all kinds of different soaps. Hand towels. _Alright._

As she washed her hands she took a cautious glance at her reflection in the mirror.

She looked awful. Her face was too flushed, her red-rimmed eyes too glassy, the whites slightly bloodshot and she could even spy a bruise which had sneaked up to the left side of her neck from the collar of the green shirt. She had no memory how she even got it.

She _felt_ awful.

Bella gingerly opened some of the drawers with her right hand (which was not busted) but found no painkillers, toothbrushes or water glasses. Only more soap, more towels, dozens of different material and colour ropes and thick scarves, and a plethora of wax candles of various colours, sizes and shapes. Why. Just. _Wh-_ Okay. She got why. …Fuck. _He_ was one kinky vampire. _Fuck_.

In the end she settled for rinsing out her mouth with plain water and drinking down at least half a litre of tap water. This was Italy. It should be safe to drink it like this, shouldn’t it? Besides, it tasted pure.

Her head hurt, her wrist and ankle hurt. Badly. Her ribs hurt. And the bruises. And she was cold. And hot. ~~And alone~~. Correction. Alone with freaking red eyed vampires. _Alone_ with _him_.

Bella shuddered.

She slowly dragged herself back into the room with the marble tub, but her ankle would not have it and finally gave out before she could cross the room and she collapsed to the floor.

_How had it come to this?_

Her breathing had become ragged. It did not sound good. She had almost drowned yesterday, hadn’t she? She suspected her lungs having been filled with saltwater did not do her any favours right now.

Perhaps her time had just run out.

She felt tears forming in her eyes again.

She did not remember crying so much, ever. Not even that first horrid week after Edward had left her. Why was it so easy to think about him now that he was dead? She felt sad that he had died, but it was not as if the world had ended. She had mourned him for months, hadn’t she? He had been dead for her for months already _. Of his own choosing_. Seeing him again today had not changed that. She realised it now. _Had he ever really loved her?_ Bella could not tell.

She had tried to save him. She had failed. As had Alice. _How_ had Alice not seen _he_ would kill her and Edward? _Parlour tricks, indeed._

Bella tried to get up again, but her fucking ankle would have none of that. A sob ripped from her throat.

She saw the door leading to the bedroom open and _he_ stepped into the room.

No. No, no, no, no, no, no.

She looked up and saw _he_ was barefoot, casual white trousers and a simple dark blue shirt instead of the large dark robes from before. His long, dark hair was tied up in a bun. He looked. _Smaller_ , somehow. And almost _normal_. _Almost_ human. But _he_ could never be able to look like a human. _He_ was something else entirely. Perhaps _he_ could have even fooled her, at first glance, if she did not know about vampires-

“ _Bambina._ ”

 _He_ came closer and crouched down in front of her. Bella found she was unable to look in _his_ eyes. They were so strange. The dark brown-haired vampiress who had wanted _him_ to eat her had said _he_ had been blind not long ago. Because _he_ had refused to eat. Bella had never heard of such a thing. Why wouldn’t a vampire eat for… a year? How? And a _vampire_ , **_blind_**? _How could it be._ The Cullens became incredibly moody if they could not hunt for a few weeks. Three weeks tops. But a _**year**?_

“Oh, child.” _He_ said and reached for her injured wrist. She twitched but what was the point of trying to stop _him_? It would hurt even more… in the end.

 _He_ rolled the sleeve up a bit, revealing the huge blue handprint. Why were the bruises so dark already?

“It is definitely broken, child. Your wrist. Hairline fractures, most likely.”

She felt _his_ eyes scan her from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes. And focus on her ankle.

She felt _him_ carefully examine it with his ice cold hands for a moment, “A sprain.”

“And you are burning up, dear.”

 _He_ released her ankle and she felt _his_ eyes slip to the bruise on her neck. She could see from the corner of her eye how _his_ own eyes narrowed and _he_ reached up to the shirt collar. _Now_ she attempted to move away-

“Stay still, child.” She froze. There was this underlying tone to his voice that demanded total obedience. It was terrifying. _He_ was terrifying.

 _He_ started unbuttoning the shirt and let out a hiss when the extent of the bruising on her exposed skin was revealed.

There was silence. Only her ragged breathing could be heard in the silent room.

After a moment _he_ suddenly inclined _his_ head in clear curiosity.

“There is saltwater in your lungs still, child.” This made her look into his strange eyes from surprise, how could he tell-

“Did you really try to kill yourself yesterday?” _He_ was looking at her inquiringly, but there was something dark lurking in his gaze. And he wanted an answer, obviously.

“No.” She answered truthfully. The idea of lying to _him_ gave her chills. She could not do it, even if she wanted to. Physically. Her body would not let her.

“One of my friends once called me an adrenaline junkie. I guess she was right.” Jessica had been an… _interesting_ friend to have. She was so… _normal_. So… down to earth. Bella had always sort of admired that about her. But Bella was never going to see her again, was she?

“…There’s this cliff. I’d seen the Quileutes jump into the ocean from it, before. _For fun_. I just wanted to get that adrenaline high, again. To jump from the cliff. I was not thinking clearly.” Bella said as she recalled the obviously horrendous weather conditions of yesterday in clear detail.

“A storm was coming. I… I almost drowned in the ocean.” Bella said in a raspy whisper. She could see it all again in front of her eyes, the bathroom had vanished completely. “The waves were so high… the current so strong… it kept pulling me deeper and deeper. I could not even tell which direction the surface was anymore. Everything was so dark there. And cold. So cold.”

She looked up to his strange milky eyes. “My best friend pulled me out. Then Alice showed up at my home a few hours later, asking to come along with her to…” A strangled, desperate laugh escaped her lips. How had _everything_ gone so wrong? “… _here_.”

She froze. Charlie! She left him only a note, _one fucking note!_ Bella squeezed her eyes shut in desperation.

What had she been thinking, coming here? She should have listened to Jake. Why had it been so important? Why had she felt that saving Edward had been worth her life? It seemed so fucking idiotic now. He had had so much more time to live than her already, _decades_. Why had Edward done something so rash? Didn’t he value his immortality? Like, _at all_? Why would he do something so _stupid_?!

Why had Alice even asked her?! Taken Bella along?!

Okay, Alice had sort of warned her, that this might be a suicide mission, but…

Why had _Bella_ been so _fucking **stupid**_ that she had thought coming to Italy to a coven of red eyed vampires was a good idea?!

She could have been _home_ right now. With her _Dad_. And _Jake_. _Not here!_ In some fucking medieval Castle in fucking Europe. Held hostage by a terrifying red-eyed vampire who had killed her friends. In under ten seconds. ~~And that man. It had been horrifying to watch. Bella did not want to remember.~~

Bella felt being carefully lifted up from the floor. She could not see anything, the tears made her blind. But it still hurt so much. She tried to stay as quiet as possible, but a few whimpers escaped her anyway.

She could feel herself being placed back on the bed. It hurt. Bruised ribs were the worst. (She did not want to think about how broken ones felt like.)

“Stay here.” Where would she even go? _If_ she was able to walk on her own.

She brushed back the tears with her good hand.

A minute later _he_ returned with a plate of chocolate truffles. And sat down on the bed in front of her.

“Take one.” _He_ extended the plate to her and motioned with _his_ eyes to the chocolate.

Bella cautiously took one truffle off the silver plate.

“Why are you giving me candy.” Bella distrustfully whispered as she cautiously inspected the truffle between her fingers.

“It is not candy.”

“What is it?”

“It is for the pain.” That was not what she had asked. “Eat it.”

There was no way out of it, was there? And the pain was beginning to get unbearable.

“Don’t you have regular painkillers around here somewhere?” She asked as she looked to the not candy in her hand with mounting dread.

“No.” Was his blunt answer.

Just as she had thought.

Bella looked into his terrifying eldritch eyes, which were watching her like a hawk. Then back to her hand where the not candy, which looked like an ordinary chocolate truffle, was clasped and slowly lifted it to her mouth.

It must have looked pathetic when she reluctantly and dejectedly put the not candy in her mouth and started to chew it.

At first it tasted simply like a chocolate truffle. After a bit though she could tell it was laced with _something_. Something very sweet. Sweeter than sugar. _It tasted_ … it tasted like liquorice. It was maddening how sweet it was.

She dutifully chewed on it and swallowed. Chewed and swallowed. Then it was finally gone. She could not decide if she had loved it or hated it.

“What was in it?”

“Take another one.” _He_ encouraged. Her eyes snapped to _his_. They were becoming eerily luminescent, despite the white film over them. She looked up and saw the sky was so much darker now. It was almost twilight outside-

“Child.” Her eyes snapped to _him_ again. _His_ voice was so melodic. She had missed that before now. “Take another one.”

Bella slowly took another truffle from the plate and put it in her mouth. This one was just the same, yet it tasted so much better than the first one. It tasted _divine_. She tried to make it last, but it was gone before she knew it.

She took another one.

And another one.

And-

He took the plate away. Her hand was left hanging in empty air. There were at least ten more left on it. _Ten!_

“No more for you.”

“… _What?_ ” She miserably asked, utterly crushed. _How could he do such a thing?_ There were so many left.

“You already took too many.”

She must have looked exceptionally disappointed as her eyes sorrowfully watched the candy because he sighed (she almost missed it), lowered his eyes to the remaining candy ~~(it had slipped her mind entirely that it was supposedly _not candy_ by now)~~, appeared to consider something and after a few moments took one from the plate, THERE WERE EXACTLY **_ELEVEN_** TRUFFLES LEFT NOW ON IT NOT COUNTING THE ONE IN HIS HAND.

“Open your mouth.” There was a small, sad smile on his lips.

Bella immediately let her mouth fall open and watched as he placed the truffle on her tongue. The sweet taste exploded on her taste buds and she could not help but moan in appreciation.

It was just so _tasty_. The best candy she had ever had. She didn't chew it this time but let it slowly melt in her mouth.

With a happy smile playing on her lips Bella looked back at the vampire who had a medical kit open beside him.

The vampire took out a roll of bandages.

Bella couldn't help but laugh.

“What has amused you so, Isabella?”

“ _You._ ” Bella said around the truffle, smiling.

“Me.” The vampire unrolled the bandage and reached for her left hand.

“You are really weird.” _He was._

“Oh! Nothing hurts anymore!” Bella said in clear surprise. When had that happened? “ _Thank you_ , Mr Vampire!”

“You are welcome, child.” The vampire had already wrapped her wrist in a secure but not too tight compress with the elastic bandage. How very nice of him!

He reached for her ankle next and applied pressure to it, making it feel funny for a bit but then he started to wrap it with another bandage.

“You should not walk for a while.” The vampire said as he finished working on her ankle and closed the kit.

“Sure, sure.” She giggled. He was funny. “Suuuure, Mr Vampire.”

“Were there any other injuries apart from your wrist and ankle? And the bruising on your chest and abdomen?” The vampire asked.

 _Were there?_ She thought for a moment.

“Ummm. I don’t think so? My head hurt pretty badly. And I was really cold. It was a bit difficult to breathe. But I’m fine now!” Bella finished brightly.

“You are not fine, child. You just do not feel your injuries anymore.”

“Oh... _Are you sure?_ ” Bella asked uncertainly.

“Your injuries will heal in a few hours time. But they are still there, presently. Thus you should not aggravate your wounds.” He said looking straight at her. “Do you understand?”

“Your hands are cold.” He had clasped her other ankle between his palms and was slowly painting circles on her skin. He stopped and jerked his hands away as if burned.

“Oh, no! Don’t stop! I liked it.” The vampire looked at her searchingly and after a moment he put his hands back on her foot.

“You have such nice hands, Mr Vampire.” They were so cool and smooth and his nails looked fantastic-

“ _Aro_.” The vampire said, intoning the name carefully.

“What?”

“My name.”

“Oh. I know, Mr Vampire.” He sighed again.

“Why are you so sad? You are too pretty to be sad, Mr Vampire.”

Bella gingerly shifted so that she didn't put pressure on her injured ankle or her wrist and wrapped herself around him.

He was so hard.

Like a marble sculpture. But weren’t all vampires this _hard_?

And he smelled so good…

“You smell like the candy.” She took in a deep breath.

“ _Child_ …” The vampire cautioned her sadly.

“I was wondering, before, if your skin would feel different than other vampires’. It is so soft.” She pressed her lips to his neck. His skin was so cold. Colder than she had expected. “And almost ice cold.” She kissed his jaw. His cheek. “I love it.”

The closer she got to his mouth the stronger the divine scent became. She couldn't pull away.

He was watching her with an unreadable look.

Or was she just too loopy to understand the meaning behind it?

Bella wrapped her arms tighter around his neck so that she could pull herself a little higher and kissed his lips. They were so cold they felt burning to her own. It was such a weird feeling. Hard, cold and _so, so soft_. Bella opened her mouth a bit and let her tongue trace the vampire’s lips. They tasted faintly like the candy, but not overly much.

The vampire had been completely still until he slowly started kissing her back. He moved his lips softly against her own, carding his fingers through her hair. She pressed herself even closer to him and licked his lips again, trying to deepen the kiss, which he finally _~~finally!~~_ allowed because he opened his mouth and met her tongue with his own icy one. Bella let out a happy sigh as she could taste the sweet liquorice again. _He_ tasted exactly like the candy. Minus the chocolate. _Who cared about chocolate?_ What was _chocolate_ compared to-

She slipped her right hand in his hair, loosened the tie and pulled on the vampire’s hair. It was like liquid silk, if there even was such a thing as liquid silk.

_Was there?_

He lightly tugged on her hair in response, angling her head a little to the side and slid his tongue inside her mouth.

It felt almost foreign, at first, having something so ice cold in her mouth but soon she realised that it was not quite true.

 _True_ in the sense that no one had ever kissed her like this. _She would have remembered_. But what she meant was that the feeling reminded her of popsicles. Sweet, juicy and burning cold. She had not had one in a long time. Not since leaving Phoenix more than a year ago. Too much of a risk of her catching a bad cough in the lovely weather conditions Forks had _all year long_.

Bella sucked on his tongue, all the while tasting the sweet, addictive liquorice. Had she mentioned that she loved liquorice? Well, _she did_. He tasted fantastic. She wanted to taste it forever, but sadly she needed air more. Fucking air. Why did people need to breathe so often?!

She broke away from him with a displeased whine, and inhaled the much needed air. Bella opened her eyes to find him looking at her with his milky ones which had darkened to a rich red wine tone. _Watching her intently_.

“You taste… _wonderful_ , Mr Vampire.” Bella kissed him again, and as he parted his lips, she slipped her tongue into his mouth and let out a long moan. He tasted _heavenly_ … she could not get enough of it, of _him_.

Bella felt the hand that was not running through her hair move under her shirt. He kept tracing her spine, up and down and up. It felt so fucking fantastic.

She wished she could get even closer to him.

And then she could taste blood. Lots and lots of blood. Her tongue hurt a little bit. She must have accidentally cut it on one of his razor sharp teeth.

And wasn’t it strange that it did not put her off? She kept on kissing him even when he started to suck more of her blood as it kept on welling in his mouth from the cut.

Shouldn’t she be sick from blood? She remembered something along the lines through the fog of desire. Now the blood tasted… funny. It had always been metallic and salty, but now it tasted more sweetly and creamy.

This time he was the one who broke the kiss. There was a sudden shift and she found herself flat on her back on the soft sheets, her arms still wrapped around the vampire’s neck, her ankles crossed on his lower back. But she could not feel any of his weight on her. Which was _bad_. Because she needed to get closer to him. But _good_ for her bruised ribs. _Probably_. And her tongue had miraculously stopped bleeding, for some reason-

-and he was kissing her again.

After a little while the vampire peppered her face with soft kisses, making her laugh. He was freaking ridiculous.

“You are so sweet, Mr Vampire.” She said as she gazed in his pitch black eyes. Hadn’t they been red?

“Child… You do not know how wrong you are.” The vampire said while shaking his head in denial. His eyes a bit sad, again.

“You are. You are so, so sweet. I love it.” She sighed contently as he placed slow kisses behind her ear and lightly nipped her neck moving ever and ever lower.

“You have no idea how intoxicating your blood tastes, child.” The vampire said as he slowly licked her neck from the hollow of her throat to her ear.

It made her shudder.

“ _Please_.” Bella begged and tried to kiss him again but-

“Child. I cannot.”

“Please, please, please.” She pressed her lips to his jaw, to his neck, slipped her hands under his shirt. She could feel his stone hard abs, and the way they involuntary convulsed where her hands brushed over them. Bella could even _hear_ the quickening of his breathing. She had barely brushed her fingers against the button of his trousers when he caught both of her hands in a soft grip, spread them in line with her shoulders, like bird wings, and pressed them down on the mattress.

“Child. You are _high_. I will not have sex with you.” The vampire said.

“Pretty please?” Bella looked up in his dark eyes hopefully. Perhaps he will change his mind if she asked nicely?

“It is not going to happen. Not when you are drugged.”

“I don’t care. I want you.” Why was he being so difficult about this?

“I know, child.” The vampire kissed her neck again, drawing out a soft moan from her.

Then a devastating thought entered her mind - _maybe he didn’t?_ Just like Edw-

“Don’t you- Don’t you want me too?” Bella asked in a shy, fearful voice.

“I do. Very much so.” The vampire replied with sad eyes.

“You can have me.” She looked in his eyes, trying to make him understand.

“ _Child_.” The vampire seemed so, so sad, again. “You are completely out of your mind right now. You do not know what you are saying. I will be surprised if you even remember this conversation tomorrow.”

“I will. Of course I will. You’re unforgettable, Mr Vampire. _Please_.”

He let out a desperate icy breath.

“I will not sleep with you, Isabella. But…”

“But?” Bella asked, hope shining in her voice. There was something-

“I could feed on you.” This made her freeze. _Was he serious?_ Her head did become a little clearer after his words. She swallowed, heavily. “It will be very enjoyable for you, I assure you.”

“Won’t-won’t I-”

“No, child. No turning, no burning. Only pain and pleasure.” Heat pulled between her legs at his words and she knew she was going to say yes.

“You promise?” She searched his bottomless black pools for eyes.

“ _I swear_.” The vampire’s voice was hypnotic. It should be illegal. It probably already _was_ illegal.

“Okay.” Bella easily agreed.

He snorted, regally, but placed a soft kiss on her lips anyway before returning to nipping at her neck. A bit later he was pressing his cold tongue flat on her carotid artery, Bella was all too aware of how her pulse fluttered under the slight pressure.

Then he placed his razor sharp teeth on the pulse point **_and sank his teeth into her neck_ **

The pain was sobering. She did not scream, but it was a near thing. She tried moving, but _he_ had an iron grip on her. _He_ was so strong. Tears were dripping from the corners of her eyes. Had she really agreed to this kind of tortu-

_Oh._

_Good God._

_Bella’d never felt anything like this._

_None of her self-inflicted orgasms had ever felt remotely like this._

_She threw her head back against the pillow trying to-_

_Closed her eyes. Opened them._

_She heard herself moan._

_Bella could feel him feeding on her, slowly pulling blood from her neck, and it was the best fucking feeling in the whole universe._

_All-consuming pleasure flowed through her veins, under her skin, to the tips of her fingers and toes. She could feel the pleasure inside her eyes… in the ends of her hair._

_She didn’t know how much more she could withstand before she… couldn’t, anymore._

_This was insane._

_The vampire stopped sucking her blood from the wound and licked it over._

_It gave Bella a little time to recover from the onslaught of feeling before he bit down on the other side of her neck._

_This time she screamed. She couldn’t not._

_Bella had never heard herself scream like this. She **had** never screamed like this._

_The pain, the pleasure, the pain, both felt so good. She could differentiate between the two until all she could feel once more was euphoria swimming trough her veins._

_Bella was going to die from this._

_There was no other possibility._

_She could hear how the vampire was moaning himself, not loudly, but he was so close to her, or was she so close to him?, so she could tell. Bella could also tell he was enjoying this as much as she was. Good._

_He had been so sad. Why was that?_

_Another maddening wave crashed over her, drowning her and she could not stand the sensation anymore._

_Bella let herself get swept off her feet and be pulled away, somewhere…_

**Author's Note:**

> If you are wondering why Edward did not see what would happen, it is because Aro was thinking in the Old Akkadian language which Edward didn't have the slightest knowledge of. Edward simply did not understand Aro's thoughts. (If you have read The Collector you know what I mean).
> 
> I'm not sure if there will be more to this AU. Perhaps. But I make no promises.


End file.
